The Expanse season 6’s premiere ends with Avasarala sending Bobbie Draper on a mystery mission. What does she have in mind for the ex-Martian marine?
Bobbie Draper is undertaking a secret mission for Avasarala in The Expanse season 6 – what are Earth’s dynamic duo up to now? Since reluctantly becoming a whistleblower by exposing Mars’ role in the Protomolecule scandal, Bobbie Draper has struggled to find her place in the Sol system. She tried the quiet life, then amateur criminality, then briefly become a therapist for divorced pilots, but all proved unsuccessful. By the end of The Expanse season 5, Bobbie had accepted a job as the right-hand woman of Earth’s newly reelected UN Secretary General Chrisjen Avasarala, but as the season 6 premiere very clearly demonstrates, the former Martian marine is spending each day grimacing her way through mundane reports and annoying journalists.
Recognizing Bobbie is as enthusiastic about her job as Marco Inaros is about democracy, The Expanse season 6’s premiere sees Avasarala decide to refocus her PA’s duties. Sick of losing to the Free Navy, Avasarala recognizes that Earth needs “something big” to turn the war’s tide, and Bobbie’s marine instincts can be stifled no longer. Avasarala confirms she already has this “something big” in mind, but the episode ends before she can reveal her scheme. What new, presumably very dangerous, mission awaits for Bobbie Draper in The Expanse season 6?
Piecing together footage from The Expanse‘s season 6 promotional material, it’s possible to construct a forecast for Bobbie’s immediate future. From the full trailer, we know Bobbie is sent to rendezvous with Holden and the Rocinante crew, as there are numerous shots of Frankie Adams’ character aboard the ship alongside The Expanse‘s main cast. In one pre-release scene, she tells Holden, “the old lady believes the Roci is the best option for this operation.” In a separate teaser, Bobbie can be briefly glimpsed wearing her stolen Martian Goliath armor on a bridge, taking gunfire from an unseen enemy. The cloudy cyan background of this scene looks very much like the cloudy cyan background of the slow zone that exists within the Ring Gate.
At the end of The Expanse season 5, Marco Inaros made his boldest power move yet by seizing control of the Ring Gate (and Medina Station within). A comment from Marco’s assistant in season 6’s premiere confirms the Free Navy is piling most of its resources into keeping Medina afloat, and we also know Earth’s navy is preoccupied batting away asteroids. Avasarala’s big plan seems to be sending Bobbie and the Rocinante crew (who can operate outside of UN scrutiny) to cause some havoc at Medina Station.
Bobbie Draper in The Expanse‘s original books wasn’t as heavily involved at this point in the narrative, so there’s no precedent for what crimes Avasarala wants her to commit at the Ring Gate. However, the books’ Free Navy war does end with an intense battle at Medina Station, where one side overloads the Ring system to deal the other a devastating blow. This tactic is also foreshadowed by a season 6 trailer scene – a docking bay full of shipping containers being tipped through a Ring. Bobbie’s role could be a prelude to this final gambit, with Avasarala perhaps asking her to disable Medina’s defenses.
Whatever Bobbie Draper’s secret mission might be, Frankie Adams getting a bigger role in The Expanse‘s final season is welcome news indeed. The actress has bought Bobbie to life spectacularly, and The Expanse is responding by giving the Martian a more central role in the finale compared to her literary counterpart. Bobbie has spent a criminally short amount of time mixing with the Rocinante crew, and rarely gets the credit she deserves from the wider system. Her mission in The Expanse season 6 can solve both problems, making Bobbie a fixture on the Roci, and letting her bow out as a hero.
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